Time Warp
by Lady Dudley
Summary: Let's do the Time Warp aga-ain...! No, not really: Trip and Malcolm become stuck in a time loop. Some Tu/S.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is based on the only episode of _Stargate-SG1_**** that I have ever seen called "Window of Opportunity." I thought it would make a fun _Enterprise _fic and give Malcolm and Trip a bit of fun since the trouble those two get into always makes me laugh :) There's also a bit of the _ST:VOY_ episode "Before and After" thrown in there for some of the techno babble (which really not my thing so I do apologise about that). Plus there's a bit of Tu/S because I love that pairing :) The chapters are 'cut' a bit like an episode because it's based off one (i.e. each chapter would be a new scene). I hope it's not too tedious!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
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_**Time Warp**_

"Looks like the wind is starting to pick up," Trip commented, "are you nearly done?" he added, turning to Hoshi.

"Almost," she replied, still intent on collecting as much data as she could about the alien ruins they were examining.

Trip pulled out his communicator, "Tucker to _Enterprise_."

"Go ahead, Trip," came the Captain's swift response.

"We're starting to experience some of that weather that T'Pol was predicting. Perhaps you should send Travis down a little early to pick us up," he suggested.

There was a pause on the other end and Trip shared a concerned look with Malcolm.

"I'm sorry Trip, there's some kind of interference in the atmosphere, we can't send down the shuttle. You'll have to use the transporter," Archer replied.

"Did he say transporter?" Hoshi asked nervously.

Trip glanced at her, "Are you sure, Cap'n?"

"I'm sorry Trip."

Trip sighed, "No problem, we'll let you know when we're ready," he replied, signing off.

"We'd better make it quick, that storm is heading towards us pretty fast," Malcolm commented.

Trip looked back at Hoshi, "I'm sorry, darlin'" he told her.

Hoshi gave him a weak smile, "It's all right. It's perfectly safe, right?"

Trip nodded, "Perfectly."

Hoshi closed her scanner, "Then let's get this over with."

"Ladies first," Trip told her, going to open his communicator.

"Commander?" Hoshi asked, confused.

"No way am I letting you go after anyone else, not after last time," he told her seriously. He glanced at Malcolm, "Ain't that right, Lieutenant?"

"Definitely," Malcolm agreed.

Hoshi favoured them both with a genuine smile, "Thank you."

Trip gave her a smile of his own, before opening his communicator, "Tucker to _Enterprise_, Hoshi's ready for transport."

"Hoshi?" Archer responded, trying in vain to keep the surprise from his tone.

"Ladies first, Cap'n," Trip replied.

"Very well, stand by Hoshi," Archer responded.

A few moments later Hoshi was transported from the surface, "Hoshi?" Trip asked his concern palpable.

"I'm fine, Commander, all fingers and toes accounted for," she replied her tone coloured with relief.

"Good to hear, Malcolm and I will join you in a minute," Trip responded with a smile.

"Ah…Commander?"

"Please tell me you're not afraid of the transporter," Trip began, turning to face Malcolm. He stopped when he noticed the larger beam of light coming towards them. "I don't remember hearing about that in the briefing."

"Neither do I," Malcolm agreed.

Both men shielded their eyes as the light suddenly flashed.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said.

Malcolm and Trip looked at each, "Ok, that's just weird," Trip commented.


	2. Chapter 2

"What's weird about _The Mummy_, sir?" Travis asked confused.

"Not the movie, Travis, we've had this conversation before," Trip told him.

"Before? Before what?" Travis asked, clearly confused.

"Before we went down to the planet, Hoshi, you remember don't you?" Malcolm said.

Hoshi shook her head slowly, "But you were there," Trip protested.

Hoshi gave both men a strange look, "Are you ok?"

Trip glanced at Malcolm, "Looks like we're the only ones who remember," he commented.

"Remember what?" Travis asked.

"The planet and the bright light and…the conversation about movie night we had at breakfast this morning," Trip replied, a little exasperated.

"What planet?" Travis asked.

"Maybe you should go and see Phlox," Hoshi suggested at the same time.

Trip and Malcolm shared another look, Malcolm shrugged, "Can't hurt."

"I guess so," Trip agreed.

Soon both men were in Sickbay, giving their report to Archer and T'Pol whilst Phlox examined them.

"…and then there was this bright light and we were having breakfast with Travis and Hoshi again," Trip said, finishing his explanation.

Archer and T'Pol shared a glance, "Time travel does not exist," T'Pol said evenly.

"Even so, I can find nothing wrong with them," Phlox said, "that's why I called you down here; I can find nothing to explain what happened to them."

Trip sighed, "Look, any minute now that same planet is going to come up on sensors, maybe then you'll believe us," he said hopefully.

Archer opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the ship's communication system, "Bridge to Archer."

Still looking doubtful Archer moved over to the panel, "Go ahead, Hoshi."

"Sensors just picked up a planet-"

"A further scan will show ruins on the surface," Trip told Archer quietly.

"-a further scan revealed ruins on the surface, Captain, what would you like us to do?" Hoshi continued.

Archer glanced back at Trip who raised his eyebrows; "Stand by," Archer told Hoshi absently, moving back to join the others. "You're sure it's at this planet that this started happening?" he asked.

"Positive, Cap'n, we sent Hoshi up first and then there was this flash of light and suddenly we were back on _Enterprise_," Trip replied. Behind him Malcolm nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps we should go down to the surface, sir, we might be able to find what caused it," Malcolm suggested.

Archer regarded both men for a long moment, "All right," he conceded.

A few hours later Malcolm, Trip, T'Pol and Travis were on the planet's surface.

"I don't know what you hope to find," T'Pol said finally, scanning the atmosphere.

"You still don't believe us, do you?" Trip asked.

T'Pol merely raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, Sub-Commander, check that out!" Travis exclaimed, the others looked to where he was pointing and saw the light once more converging on their position.

"Believe us now?" Trip asked, just before the light flashed.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said.

Trip dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal in frustration, "I can't believe this is happening."


	3. Chapter 3

"You can't believe what is happening?" Travis asked.

Trip sighed, "It would appear that the Commander and I are stuck in a time loop," Malcolm explained.

"So you could, predict what's going to happen next?" Travis asked.

Trip looked at Hoshi, "You're going to suggest we go to Phlox."

"Of course I would," she replied, giving both him and Malcolm a concerned look.

"Ok, bad example," Trip conceded.

"Well, that guy there, is about to choke on his orange juice," Malcolm added, pointing to an ensign a few seats away.

Travis and Hoshi looked dubiously at the ensign, who duly began to choke on his orange juice.

"I still think you should be checked out by Phlox," Hoshi stated.

Malcolm and Trip sighed, "All right, but it won't do any good," was Trip's only comment before they left for Sickbay.

"…and then there was a bright light," Malcolm said, wrapping up his explanation for Archer and T'Pol. "But as Trip said, we have been through all this before."

"Just humour us Malcolm," Archer replied.

"All right, any minute now Hoshi's going to tell you that _Enterprise_ has detected a planet with some ancient ruins. That's when you begin to believe us," Trip told him.

T'Pol looked like she was about to say something but the communicator sounded, "Bridge to Archer."

"Go ahead Hoshi."

"Sensors just picked up a planet," she reported.

Archer glanced at Trip, "Any chance that there are ruins on the surface?"

There was a brief pause, "How did you know?"

Archer sighed, "Because it looks like Trip and Malcolm were telling the truth."

A few minutes later the command crew were collected around the briefing table. "Perhaps this time it would be better for the two of you stay on board _Enterprise_," Archer suggested, "it's possible that the loop might be broken if you don't go down there."

Trip and Malcolm glanced at each other and shrugged, "It's worth a shot."

"If we can take scans of the ruins they might be able to tell us what is causing this," T'Pol suggested.

"All right, T'Pol I'd like you and Travis to take a shuttle down to the surface, let me know if you find anything," T'Pol and Travis nodded and the group broke up.

"Do you really think this will work?" Malcolm asked Trip in a low tone.

"Honestly? I have no idea," he confessed.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Malcolm replied, clearly not happy with that option.

"It can't get worse can it?"

Both returned to their respective stations, hoping that this time it would be different. It would be only a couple more hours before they would know. Just when they thought they were going to make it…they found themselves back at breakfast.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said.

Trip turned to Malcolm, "Ok, so I was wrong."


	4. Chapter 4

"Wrong about what, sir?" Travis asked, confused.

Malcolm sighed as Trip put his head in his hands, "It would appear that the Commander and I are stuck in a time loop."

"Let's just go to Phlox and get this over with," Trip said before Hoshi or Travis could comment.

"…and then there was a bright light-" Malcolm continued before he was interrupted by Trip.

"-and we found ourselves back at breakfast with Travis and Hoshi," Trip sighed, "and any minute now Hoshi's going to tell you that sensors have picked up the planet, that's when you usually start to believe us." He turned to T'Pol, "Last time you suggested that if we took scans of the planet you might be able to figure out what's causing this, only no one else will remember."

"So Trip and I should be on the team," Malcolm added.

Archer looked dubiously at the two men, T'Pol opened her mouth to speak, "Time travel does not exist," Trip said for her.

T'Pol raised an eyebrow, "That is the Vulcan High Command's considered view of time travel. It is only logical I would say so," she replied evenly.

"Ok, bad example," Trip conceded.

"Bridge to Archer," came Hoshi's voice over the communications system.

"They've found the planet," Trip announced, a touch gleefully.

As the conversation with Hoshi followed the pattern that Trip and Malcolm had suggested, Archer had no problems with sending to two men back down to the surface; accompanied by T'Pol and Hoshi.

"I don't know how we're going to remember all this stuff for you, Hoshi, but if you think it will help…" Trip trailed off as he looked up to see the beam of light.

"See you at breakfast," Malcolm said drily before the light flashed.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said.

Trip dropped his head into his folded arms, "Nice to see you again too, Commander," Malcolm said sarcastically.


	5. Chapter 5

"See him – what?" Travis asked, confused.

"We're stuck in a time loop," Trip said, somewhat muffled by his folded arms.

"All of us?"

"No, just me and Malcolm," came the muffled response.

"How many times has this happened?"

"Too many," Malcolm replied before Trip could.

"No, Hoshi, we are not going to see Phlox, he never finds anything," Trip said before Hoshi could say anything. "You all believe us once we find a planet on sensors that has ruins on it," he continued, raising his head, "last time T'Pol suggested that scanning the ruins might tell us something and _you_ suggested that if we learnt the translation of the texts on the ruins that also might help."

Hoshi just looked at him, Trip sighed, "You believe us eventually."

"I believe you now," she protested, "it's just a lot to take in."

"Does that mean we don't have to see Phlox?" Malcolm asked hopefully.

Unfortunately this time it was Archer who sent the two men down to Sickbay, "You just had to ask, didn't you?" Trip muttered to Malcolm as they underwent yet another examination.

Once the planet was sighted on sensors, however, things began to follow much the same course as before. The two men travelled to the surface with T'Pol and Hoshi. While T'Pol explained all the scans and their results to Malcolm, Trip got a crash course in linguistics from Hoshi.

This pattern continued several more times and Trip, for one, began to feel like his head was going to explode.

"You smell like strawberries," Trip blurted during what felt like the millionth linguistic lesson, Hoshi looked up from the PADD she was reading in surprise.

"You're trying to change the subject again," she said, fighting off a blush with difficulty.

"I'm sorry, Hoshi, this is just starting to drive me a little crazy. I feel like we're chasing our tails," he confessed with a sigh, sitting down on a nearby ruin and putting his PADD aside.

"I'm actually quite impressed that you're sticking with this," Hoshi said as she came over to join him, "I mean, imagine how much trouble the two of you would get into with no consequences," she added.

Trip looked at her.

"Uh-oh," she said with a mixture of amusement and worry.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said.

Trip stood up, grabbing Malcolm by the elbow, hauling him to his feet as he did so. "Sounds great, Travis, we'll see you in a bit," Trip said with a grin, before dragging Malcolm out of the Mess Hall, leaving a confused Travis and Hoshi behind.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't we be telling them about the time loop?" Malcolm demanded once they were in the hallway.

"Are you kidding? That's starting to drive me crazy," Trip replied, releasing him and looking around for eavesdroppers.

"So I've noticed," Malcolm muttered.

Trip didn't hear him and seeing that there was no one around he turned to Malcolm with a wicked grin, "I've got an idea."


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Malcolm whispered, sounding a little apprehensive.

"Malcolm, you don't have to whisper. We're not going to get caught and even if we do, it's not a problem," Trip replied.

"It's still wrong though isn't it?"

Trip paused in his tinkering to glare at Malcolm, "I don't recall twisting your arm. Now either hand me that spanner or scram," he ordered, turning back his work.

Malcolm wordlessly handed him the spanner.

A few minutes later Hoshi found them sitting on deck chairs in front of one of the larger of _Enterprise_'s windows, eating popcorn.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Revenge, darlin', sweet revenge," Trip answered, eyes still glued to the window.

Hoshi gave them both an odd look before glancing out the window, "Isn't that Shuttlepod-"

She started as the shuttle suddenly exploded, causing both men to cheer. "-One?" she finished lamely, staring at where the shuttle had been. She looked back at Malcolm and Trip.

"Popcorn?" Trip offered.

The next few loops were spent in a similar fashion of acting out with no consequences: they used the transporter to steal everyone's left shoe; modified the rifles to hold a water fight and generally caused havoc wherever they went.

It was whilst they were in the middle of an epic food fight they had started in the Mess Hall that Malcolm suggested they go back to trying to figure out what had gotten them into this mess in the first place.

"Sure," Trip agreed, "but there's one more thing I want to do first."

"What's that?"

"You'll see," was Trip's cryptic response.

In the last few minutes of the next loop Trip made his way up to the Bridge and handed Archer a PADD.

"What's this?" Archer asked, activating it to read the contents.

"My resignation," Trip answered smoothly, checking the time.

Archer looked up in surprise, "You're resigning? Why?"

Trip gave him an easy smile, "So I can do this."

Stepping over to Hoshi's station he pulled her to her feet by the hand and kissed her senseless.

She froze for an instant until she hesitantly put her arms around his neck, returning the kiss.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said.

Trip smiled a little dreamily at Hoshi.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, darlin', nothing at all," he replied, still smiling. He turned to Travis, "_The Mummy_ sounds great, but we've got bigger problems than movie night."

"The Commander and I are stuck in a time loop," Malcolm explained.

...

**A/N: I couldn't help it - the idea of them blowing up Shuttlepod One just made me laugh, hope it gave you a giggle too :)**


	7. Chapter 7

"Hoshi, we've gone over this so many times that I can recite it by heart, are you sure this is going to help?" Trip complained, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes.

After Malcolm and Trip had explained everything to the Captain, Archer had deemed it more appropriate for them to continue going over all they had learnt on board _Enterprise_ rather than travelling down to the planet.

At least for this time loop.

"I don't know," Hoshi confessed, looking at the PADDs that littered the table in front of them. "It all seems to have nothing to with what's happening to you," she looked at him, "I'm sorry Trip."

Before he could stop himself, Trip reached out and squeezed her hand, "It's not your fault, Hoshi," he assured her with a smile.

"So, if this isn't getting us anywhere, may I ask you a question?" Hoshi asked after a moment.

"You just did," Trip teased, laughing as she pulled a face at him. "Ok, shoot," he said, reining in his laughter as he leaned back in his chair.

"Why did you choose to study the linguistics with me instead of the scans with T'Pol?" she asked, "You are the Chief Engineer, I would have thought studying the scans would make more sense," she continued at his surprised expression.

Trip thought for a moment, "Honestly?" he asked after a moment, Hoshi nodded, "I would rather spend an eternity of time loops with you, going over the same thing again and again, than spending it with T'Pol."

Hoshi nodded, looking away, "Oh."

Trip realised that she may have taken what he said the wrong way, so he continued: "But to be brutally honest…I just wanted to spend time with you," he confessed.

Hoshi turned back to face him, surprise written all over her face.

Trip was about to say more but he was interrupted by Malcolm: "Reid to Tucker."

"Perfect timing as always," Trip grumbled as he stood up to respond to the hail.

Hoshi gave him a small smile as she began to collect the PADDs.

"Tucker here."

"T'Pol and I have been going over the scans again and realised that we missed something. It's not what's on the planet, it's what we _did_ on the planet," Malcolm said with a hint of excitement.

Trip tiredly ran a hand over his face, "You need to explain this one to me Malcolm," he replied.

"This all started after we beamed Hoshi up from the surface," Malcolm explained, "it was the transporter beam reacting with the planet's atmosphere that started it all. We need to recreate the incident, as it were, and find out what we need to do to adjust the transporter beam."

Trip checked the time, "We don't have much longer until the next loop will begin, are you sure about this?"

"Positive."

"That's all I need to hear," Trip replied as he signed off. He hesitated and turned to look at Hoshi, a guilty expression on his face.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, "Go."

Trip gave her a brief nod and was gone, "It's not like I'll remember anything anyway," Hoshi added to herself as the doors slid shut behind him.

Trip made his way quickly up to the transporter controls where T'Pol and Malcolm were waiting for him, "Are you ready?" Malcolm asked as he came to join them.

"Let's end this," was Trip's only reply.

It took the three officers right up until the moment before the time loop began to figure out the precise calibration for the transporter.

"Remember: phase variance 4.5," was the last thing T'Pol said before Trip and Malcolm found themselves once more at breakfast.

"…so I think we should watch _The Mummy_ next movie night," Travis said. He stopped at the odd expressions on Trip and Malcolm's faces, "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Trip replied, with a grin, "the important thing is that we need to reset the transporters to phase variance 4.5."


	8. Epilogue

**_Epilogue: No Regrets_**

"I have never seen anyone enjoy pancakes so much," Travis commented, watching Trip tuck into his short stack.

"You try eating the same thing for breakfast for who knows how long and get back to me," Trip replied, shoving another forkful of pancakes into his mouth as he did so.

"At least that's all finished now," Hoshi commented.

"Amen," Trip agreed raising his juice in a mock toast before taking a sip.

"So…I'm curious," Travis began, "you were repeating the same thing over and over again?"

Trip nodded.

"So there were no consequences?" Travis clarified, at Trip's nod Travis' face broke out into a conspiratorial grin, "Were you tempted to do anything crazy?" he asked.

Trip glanced at Hoshi and grinned, "Nothing I regret."


End file.
